AGENTS ARREST FEDERAL BORDER OFFICER

He is accused of allowing fugitive brother-in-law into the U.S. from Mexico

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer accused of illegally allowing his felon brother-in-law into the country has been arrested, joining about 140 members of border law enforcement agencies who have been charged in corruption cases since 2004.

Thomas Paul Silva, 33, was taken into custody about 8:30 a.m. Friday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry by agents with the Border Corruption Task Force, FBI special Agent Darrell Foxworth said Monday.

Silva, who has been with the agency since 2002, is accused of allowing Julio Cesar Landaverde Valdez, a federal fugitive, to enter the U.S. from Mexico in April, Foxworth said. He said Silva knew his brother-in-law was a fugitive.

Valdez was convicted in 2006 on immigrant smuggling charges. That case stemmed from Valdez and an associate trying to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro border crossing with an undocumented immigrant in a dashboard compartment of their vehicle, Foxworth said.

Silva appeared in federal court Monday and was told he faces two charges: concealing a person to prevent arrest and wire fraud.

In addition to illegally allowing his brother-in-law into the country, Silva is accused of defrauding Farmers Insurance Co. by falsely claiming that his vehicle was stolen and receiving about $7,300 as a result, Foxworth said.

A Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman issued a statement, saying the agency stresses honor and integrity in its mission.

“CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe,” the statement said. “We do not tolerate abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with investigations of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, on or off duty.”

An affidavit filed in the case said federal agents were alerted to Silva’s alleged criminal activity in November 2010 after reports accused him of allowing people with phony immigration documents to pass through the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Silva ran computer searches in a Customs and Border Protection database under Valdez’s name in March, the affidavit says. Then, on April 19, cameras recorded a Volkswagen sedan entering the inspection lane that Silva was monitoring.

Silva failed to properly enter the car’s license plate number into a computer system and did not provide any personal information about anyone in the vehicle.

The male driver of the car had a tattoo, part of which could be seen on his neck above the collar. Investigators viewed photos on Valdez’s Facebook page, which showed he has a tattoo that covers part of his left shoulder, neck and upper chest.

An arrest warrant was issued for Valdez in June 2011 after he failed to show up at a residential re-entry program. He remains a fugitive.

Silva was booked Friday into the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego.

His wife and three supporters were in court Monday but declined to speak to reporters afterward.

The Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection have been dogged in recent years with agents and officers having been arrested in corruption cases related to their jobs. Most of them took money to allow drugs or undocumented immigrants into the United States.

Last month, a federal jury convicted two brothers, both former Border Patrol agents, with running a human smuggling ring. Prosecutors said Raul Villarreal, who had been a media spokesman for the Border Patrol in San Diego, was accused of hatching the idea and later recruiting his brother, Fidel.

T.J. Bonner, the former longtime head of the national union for Border Patrol agents, was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in San Diego on charges he defrauded the union out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He is accused of using the union’s money for personal business, including visiting a mistress in Chicago.